International Day Against Homophobia, biphobia
& Transphobia (IDAHOT) 2017, May 17th ! International
Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia truly deserves its title of
“WorldWide Celebration of Sexual and Gender Identities”

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on
Wednesday, May 17th 2017!

What is May 17th
?

t was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social
movements, the public and the media to the violence and discrimination
experienced by LGBTI people internationally.

In under a decade, May 17 has established itself the single
most important date for LGBTI communities to mobilise on a worldwide scale.

The Day represents an annual landmark to draw
the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, opinion leaders and
local authorities to the alarming situation faced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals,
transgender and intersex people and all those who do not conform to majority
sexual and gender norms.

This year again, the International Day
Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia truly deserves its title of
“WorldWide Celebration of Sexual and Gender Identities”. Beyond the rather
narrow notions of “Homo”, “Trans”, “Bi”; the day offers a fantastic display of
diversity, which mirrors the many facets of human sexualities and gender
identities and expressions.

All over the world, advocates and their
allies are fighting for what matters most to them: the right to be free from
criminalisation, persecution, stigmatisation.

Sometimes the right to just live, as in
many countries people have to fear for their lives.

IDAHOT-IFED
2017: Celebrate Family Diversity

International
Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT)

International
Family Equality Day (IFED)

2017

“LOVE MAKES A FAMILY”

Consultation
with advocates from around the world identifies “Families” as a focus issues
for IDAHOT 2017

This focus includes both- The role of families in the well-being of their
LGBTIQ members- The respect of the rights of LGBTIQ families (rainbow
families) We also of course want to use this focus issue to counter the
reclaiming of family values by conservatives.

We hope that this focus issue on families
will- Strengthen the visibility and voice of LGBTIQ parents- Strengthen the visibility and voice of Rainbow
families and lead to advances in recognition and rights- Strengthen the visibility and voice of children of LGBTIQ
parents, and possibly strengthen the structuring of their nascent movement- Reclaim “family values” in a progressive understanding- Facilitate alliances with progressive family organisations

The IDAHOT will of course remain open to any other initiatives,
either around other aspects related to Families, or on other issues. As always,
the focus issue constitutes a possible entry point for mobilisation, advocacy
and alliance building, but only if this is relevant for each stakeholder.

Feel free to download (right-click) the
full visual below and to use if for your communication purposes

On the one hand, activism in some
countries is definitely rising, with more and more visible events and strong
support from institutions, which the Day has always been a good framework for
and this year again many official buildings will be lit in Rainbow flag colors,
such as the Chilean Presidency building.

Rainbow flags will be flying all over the
UK and Australia, where this action has become a national IDAHOT favorite.

On the other hand many activists have
asked not to disclose information about their actions for fear of backlash,
even in countries where conditions were relatively safe in previous
years. In Lebanon for example, the public conference organised byProud Lebanonhad to be cancelled under pressure from
opposition.

In some places, this reaction comes as a
backlash against stronger visibility of sexual and gender diversities but in
some other places, there is increased State and social repression even though
the levels of activism have not seen any significant change.

This shows that highly visible recent
victories, and some severe defeats, on LGBT issues on several fronts have
certainly increased the focus of moral and religious fundamentalist movements
on sexual and gender rights. Activists from the sexual and gender minorities
movement now have to struggle against increasingly well funded, well organised
movements, which are getting much better than before at occupying the ground of
values that appeal even to otherwise socially progressive constituencies.

Luckily, international organisations
and progressive States are more than ever showing support. Local activists in
dozens of countries are supported by Embassies and representations from
international organisations.

As we see all the fantastic energy
and creativity which the activists deploy around May 17, it is more than ever
urgent to increase the capacity and resources of activists to stand their
ground and promote positive social change.